Collapsible bed-bolster.



F. W. RAHN.

COLLAPSIBLE BED BOLSTBR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1912.

1,082,171 Patented De0.23, 1913.

VlltIljRcI-I W. RAI-IN, DUNNING, ILLINOIS.

COLLAPSIBLE BED-BOLSTER.

Application filed September 21,1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

1atentedDec. 23, 1913.

Serial No. 721,647'.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Farmaci-i 1V. BAHN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Dunning, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Bed-Bolsters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to collapsible bed bolsters and has for its object the provision of a device of this character which is of simple construction and efficient in operation.

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

rlhe invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication and in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bolster embodying my invention, Fig. 2, an enlarged longitudinal. section of the bolster, Fig. 3, a section taken on line .r---ir of Fig. 2, F ig. et, a section taken on line y-g/ of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5, an enlarged detail view of a turn buckle arrangement for longitudinally extending stretcher members employed in the construction.

rl`he preferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawings comprises two end members 1 which are formed of wooden disks provided with openings at their centers. A sheet ofV canvas 2 is secured at its ends to disks 1 in such a manner as to be capable of forming therewith a cylindrical receptacle having an opening in one side thereof. rllhe canvas sheet 2 is secured at its ends to disks 1 by extending the ends 3 of said sheet over the outer faces of said disks and securing said ends in position by means of tacks 0r nails d as indicated in the drawings. Stretcher rods 5 are secured to the edges of sheet 2 at the edges of the opening therein as indicated. The ends of the rods 5 rest loosely in notches 6 provided in slidable plates mounted on end members 1 as shown. These slidable plates engage eccentrics 8 which are operated by a common lever 9 to simultaneously move rods 5 to stretch the canvas member 2 or to relieve said canvas member from such tension. Lever 9 has suliicient frictional contact with the corresponding disk 1 to hold said plates at the ends of their adjusted position. Each ofthe plates 7 is provided with a slot 10 which engages the head of a stud 11, said stud serving to hold said plates in position and at the same time permit of their movement in response to the action of lever 9. Another stretcher rod 12 extends between heads 1 in circumferential position intermediate the rods as indicated in Figs. and t. This rod 12 'is provided with enlarged heads 13 at each end; and said heads tit loosely within n'lm-sockets 111 secured to each of the ends 1 as shown. Expansion hoops 15 are pivotally mounted at their ends on rods and in shape are adapted to hold sheet 2 in distended posit-ion. rllhe ends of these hoops 15 are pivoted to U-shaped clips 1G which embrace rods 5, a pivotal connection being effected by means of rivets 17 passing through the clips and the ends of said hoops. .Each of the hoops 15 is also provided with in'dentations 18 adapted to receive rod 12 and hold said rod against lateral displacement. Each of the rods 5 and rod 12 is provided with means for longitudinal extension thereof, said means comprising a sleeve 1S) which is oppositely threaded on sections of the rod as indicated in Fig. Said sleeve is provided with diametric perf i rations 20 arranged at right angles to each other and adapted to receive a pin for turning of said sleeve thus constituting a turn buckle arrangement for longitudinal extensions of said rods.

A removable and washable cover member 21 is provided for the bolster, said cover member consisting of any suitable or desired fabric and having its ends 22 turned inwardly over rods and secured in position by means of snap fasteners 23. The other ends 2e of cover member 21 are extended inwardly over the outer faces of end member 1 and then drawn through the central opening in the corresponding end member, being` removably secured in said opening by iianged frictional sleeves 25 which engage in said opening and each other as indicated in Fig. 2, By this construction it. will be ohserved that the cover member may be readily removed and replaced when desired for washing or other purposes. Then it is desired to collapse the bolster, levers 9 are 0perated to relieve the tension from rods 5 which may then be disengaged from plates 7. Hoo-ps 15 are folded into substantial parallelism with rod 5 and rod 12 removed from sockets 14. Then the flexible members 2 and 21 may be collapsed and end members l laid flat on a surface, thus collapsing the device..

`While l have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into edect; this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. l, therefore7 do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the class described comprising two end members; a fiexible member secured to said end members to form a receptacle open at one side; longitudinally extensible stretcher members attached to said flexible member at the edges of said opening and detachably secured to said end member; slidable plates eccentrically mounted on said end members and arranged to move said stretcher members to stretch said flexible member; a lever for simultaneously operating said plates; a supplemental stretcher member located between said first mentioned stretcher members and detachably secured to said end members; and distention hoops pivoted to said first mentioned stretcher members and arranged to hold said flexible member in distended form, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described comprising two end members; a flexible member secured to said end members to form a receptacle open at one side; longitudinally extensible stretcher members attached to said exible member at the edges of said opening and detachably secured to said end members; slidable plates operatively connected on said end members arranged to simultaneously move said stretcher members to stretch said flexible member; a lever for Operating said plates; a supplemental longitudinally extensible stretcher member located between said first mentioned stretcher members and detachably secured to said end members; and distention hoops pivoted to said first mentioned stretcher members adapted to hold said flexible member in distended position7 substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described comprising two end members; a exible member secured to said end members to form a receptacle open at one side; longitudinally extensible stretcher members attached to said flexible member at the edges of said opening and detachably secured to said end members; means on said end members arranged to move said stretcher members to stretch said flexible member, said means comprising two slidable plates and an operating lever connected to operate said plates simultaneously; a supplemental longitudinally extensible stretcher member located between said first mentioned stretcher members and detachably secured to said end member; and distention hoops pivoted to said first mentioned stretcher members and adapted to hold said flexible member in distended form, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name t0 this specification in the presence of two subscribing` witnesses.

FRDRICH lV. BAHN.

lVitnesses JOSHUA R. H. Poms, JANET E. FARRELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

